Mechanism for handling sheets of material



Dec. 30, 1952 J. MELZER MECHANISM FOR HANDLING SHEETS OF MATERIAL FiledJuly 7, 1947 70 SOURCE OF 1 VACUUM INVENTOR ATTO Patented Dec. 30, 1952MECHANISM FOR HANDLING SHEETS OF MATERIAL Julius Melzer, Bellaire, N.Y., assignor to Ameri can Can Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation ofNew Jersey Application July 7, 1947, Serial No. 759,325

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a mechanism for handling sheets ofmaterial such as tin plate or other thin sheets of fibrous or nonfibrousmaterial and has particular reference to sheet gripper devices which aremovable into different sheet engaging positions in accordance with thesurface dimensions of a sheet to be moved.

An object of the invention is the provision in a mechanism for handlingsheets of material, of shiftable gripper devices wherein the gripperdevices may be shifted in accordance with the area or surface dimensionsof different sheets to be moved so that the gripper devices will engagesheets of different sizes in the same relative position to facilitatemoving of the sheets.

Another object is the provision of such a mechanism wherein the gripperdevices may be locked in an adjusted position for engaging a pluralityof sheets of the same size, individually, and in a, predetermined placeon their surfaces and may be rapidly changed to another position forengaging sheets of a difierent size in the same or a different relativeposition, to facilitate moving of the sheets.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas it is better understood from the following description, which, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of a mechanism embodying the instant invention,with parts broken away and parts shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan section of a gripper device used in themechanism, the view being taken substantially along the line 2-2 in Fig.1;

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are enlarged schematic plan views showing the gripperdevice in different positions in accordance with the size of the sheetto be moved to facilitate moving of the sheet; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of assembled portions of the cupgripper support and its actuating rod, parts being broken away and partsbeing shown in section.

As a preferred embodiment of the invention the drawings illustrate a,sheet handling mechanism of the type used in a strip feed press such asthe press disclosed in United States Patent 1,443,761 issued January 30,1923 to H. Schoendelen on a Safety Device for Punch Presses and thelike, although the invention is equally well adapted to other machinesand other types of sheet handling devices. In such a strip feed press,sheet metal strips A (Fig. 3) from which container parts or otherarticles are to be formed,

- 2 are lifted individually from the top of a stack of such stripscontained in a stationary magazine II and are then fed endwise into thepress for the forming operation.

Lifting of the strips A from the magazine, preferably is eifected by aplurality of vacuum or suction cups l2 which are preferably made ofrubber or other suitable material. l'here usually are three of thesesuction cups arranged in a straight line, when used in a strip feedpress, and they are moved in unison toward and away from the stack ofstrips in the magazine II. when in a lowered position the cups engageagainst the top surface or the upper strip along its longitudinal centerline or center of gravity so that the strip will be balanced during thelifting operation. In some cases, electro-magnets or permanent magnetsmay be used instead of suction cups.

The suction cups l2 are moved toward and away from the stack of stripsby a plurality of hollow actuating rods l4 carried in pairs of spacedbearings 15 formed on brackets 16 secured to a frame H, which may be themain frame of the punch press to which the mechanism is attached. Theupper end of the rod leads to any suitable source of vacuum.

Intermediate the bearings IS the rods 14 carry collars it which areconnected to the lower ends of actuating links 19. The upper ends of thelinks are connected to any suitable source of reciprocating motion forlowering the suction cups l2 in aligned unison into engagement with astrip A and 101 raising them and the gripped strip as hereinbeforementioned.

In the instant mechanism, provision is made for shifting the suctioncups [2 in a plane parallel with the plan surface of the strip to belifted so that the same cups may be used for strips of different widthsand lengths without changing the spacing of the cup supports. For thispurpose the suction cups l2 are secured by a hollow nut 21 (Fig. 1) to ahollow suction head 22 carried on the lower end of a hollow stem 23which depends from and which is formed integrally with a cup supportmember or element 24 carried on the lower end of the actuating rods [4.The stem 23 is located in an eccentric position relative to theactuating rod M.

The lower ends of the actuating rods 14 extend down into a blind bore 26formed in the cup support member 24 and terminate adjacent a vacuumchannel 21 which communicates with the hollow stem 23 (Figs. 1 and 6).The lower ends of the rods are formed with vacuum grooves 28 whichinsure a continuous open vacuum passageway from the eccentricallydisposed suction cups 12 to the source of vacuum even though the end ofthe rod engages against the blind end of the bore 26.

The cup support member 24 is locked in posi tion on the lower ends ofthe actuating rods M by a locking stud 3| (Figs. 1 and 2) which isdisposed at right angles to the rods I4 and which is located in anaperture 32 formed in the support member partially across the blind bore26 The locking stud is formed with a locking groove 33 which correspondssubstantially to the outer curvature of the rod. Oneend of thefstud, isthreaded and extends beyond the support member 24 and carries a lockingnut 34 which may be tightened or loosened on the stud by a wrench;

or other suitable tool.

When the nut 34 is tightened it draws the locking stud 3i tightlyagainstthe actuating rod ..di in th ll lski gro ve 3 a d u holds thesupportmember securely in place on the end of the rod. With such a'constru'ction of support member for the eocentrically disposed suctioncup l2, themember may be readily rotated on the actuating rod 14 by amere loosening of the loclgnut 34 and thus the eccentrically mountedsuction cup mlay be shifted with the member through a working arc of 180degrees into a plurality ofangular positions relative to the rod and theplane of the top surfaces of the strips A in the magazine of the press.v V V Thus the suction cup maybe shifted into a position correspondingto the widthof a strip so that the cup may always bev located on thelongitudinal centerline or center of gravity of the strip no matter whatthe width of the strip may be so long as it is within the 180 degreesrange of movement of thecup. Fora narrow strip the cup may be shiftedinto a, position such as that shown in Fig. 3. Fora wider strip thecupmay be located as in Fig. 4 and for a still wider strip as en e a numbr. of difil r n ths o Strips maybe accommodated by making theeccentricity of the suction cup sufficient to cover the range f. str tobew rk s p n t s,d r .d to r ul te. th lo at nni the cups, qrl i e lyQit e ri s. ns ad pii ns emdy a gxplaflined bove, i so m beefiwhslbvfime shiftin of, er un. up o t mbe -wait su h an adi m tof .thew s p t m m2 is k d os t on on. the actuating 504s M by a tightening of the locknut 34 as hereinbefore x a d-.4 a

Itis thought thatthe invention and many of its attendant advantages willbe understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparentthatvarious changes rnaybe made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts Without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

In a mechanism forhandlingsheetsof material such as tinlplate thecombination of an actuating member movable longitudinally toward andfrom a sheet to be handled and having a cylindrical portion at the lowerend thereof, said actuating member being formed with a longitudinalpassage extending from said end adjacent the cylindrical portion towardthe opposite end of the. member and having communication with ,asourceofvacuum, the end of said member adjacent said cylindrical portion beingformed with closely spaced transverse grooves radiating fromtheend ofsaid passage to the cylindrical surface of said end portion, a grippersupport having a blind bore formed therein substantially complementaryto said cylindrical portion of the actuating member receiving saidcylindrical r q o t nne r ete 5 ib 'fibs ii he eby a dw mrt m y. 2 ..9iteqe w 1 a at m r .3413 il". 33 4% 199 94 ve theret a hollow. st mserr df maid u and n ed ic enui to a d bl nd bor and a tuat n membe ,aivaq um,s mm ne o an a a y disposed relative to t eh werexiemity of said stem.said r per. a. net ansr verse channel formed thereinand extending fromsaid hollow stem to the lower end, of said blind bore for establishing,communication between said vacuum cup and, said, source of vacuum, saidtransverse grooves maintaining, constant, communication between saidtransverse channel, and the, passage in'saidactuating member in anyselected arcuate position ofwsaid gripper relative c to said actuatingmember for engaging andholding a sheet when said cup is moved by saidactuating member.

JULIUS MELZER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patentz V UNITEQ STATES PATENTS Number Name ,9 Date 1,109,079Marten et a1 Sept. 1,1914 1,621,546 Kluge et al Man-22,1927 1,915,258Broadmeyer June 20, 1933 2,081,958 Root June 1, 19.37 2,123,549 WilliamsJuly 12, 1938 2,284,429 Jirousek May 26,1942 2,284,430 Jirousek May 26,1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 7 Date;

91,403 Sweden Feb. 28, 1935

